A couple of questions for dualbooting, and a compatibility check.

[Dahsoup]

Hello all, I searched through the forums and read golden builds and recent posts, but I am still a little uncertain about a couple of things. I want to dual boot, with OSX as the main OS and with the option of holding down a key during startup to boot into Win7. With the OS's on different SSD's. Any help will be much appreciated, and I will post a guide for noobs as myself as soon as i get it build. Here is the build that I have chosen:

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770
MOBO: GA-Z77X-UD5
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB(2x8) DDR3 1600MHz
GFX: EVGA GeForce GTX 660Ti
CASE: Corsair Carbide 500R
PSU: Cooler Master GX 750W
SSD's: 2x Samsung 840 Series MZ-7TD120 SSDs (One for each OS)
HDD's: 2x Seagate Barracuda SATA 6Gb/s 1TB HDD (For non SSD apps and files, one for each OS)
COOLER: Corsair H60 Hydro Series
FIREWIRE CARD: Syba Low Profile PCI-e 1394b/1394a (2B1A) Card, TI Chipset Ekstra Regular Bracket
OS:Mountain Lion+ Windows 7


Questions:


First of all, are these parts compatible with each other, and will they work out of the box? I want the install to be as easy as possible.


CPU: How to install HD4000? With MultiBeast?


CASE: Will it fit?


SSD's: I've read that I have to install the Win7 drive first, to prevent Win7 from creating files in /Partitions folder or something. And also that I have to format the Win7 drive first. When formating the drive, do I need to make a partition? And if I have to format it before installing Win7, and Win7 must be first OS to be installed, how do I do it? From another computer? And do it need to do it to the OSX SSD too?


GPU: 750w is plenty right?


Mountain Lion: Can I use a friend's mac to buy, or will it be bound to his account or something?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Lockstock]

Hello all, I searched through the forums and read golden builds and recent posts, but I am still a little uncertain about a couple of things. I want to dual boot, with OSX as the main OS and with the option of holding down a key during startup to boot into Win7. With the OS's on different SSD's. Any help will be much appreciated, and I will post a guide for noobs as myself as soon as i get it build. Here is the build that I have chosen:

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770
MOBO: GA-Z77X-UD5
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB(2x8) DDR3 1600MHz
GFX: EVGA GeForce GTX 660Ti
CASE: Corsair Carbide 500R
PSU: Cooler Master GX 750W
SSD's: 2x Samsung 840 Series MZ-7TD120 SSDs (One for each OS)
HDD's: 2x Seagate Barracuda SATA 6Gb/s 1TB HDD (For non SSD apps and files, one for each OS)
COOLER: Corsair H60 Hydro Series
FIREWIRE CARD: Syba Low Profile PCI-e 1394b/1394a (2B1A) Card, TI Chipset Ekstra Regular Bracket
OS:Mountain Lion+ Windows 7


Questions:


First of all, are these parts compatible with each other, and will they work out of the box? I want the install to be as easy as possible.


CPU: How to install HD4000? With MultiBeast?


CASE: Will it fit?


SSD's: I've read that I have to install the Win7 drive first, to prevent Win7 from creating files in /Partitions folder or something. And also that I have to format the Win7 drive first. When formating the drive, do I need to make a partition? And if I have to format it before installing Win7, and Win7 must be first OS to be installed, how do I do it? From another computer? And do it need to do it to the OSX SSD too?


GPU: 750w is plenty right?


Mountain Lion: Can I use a friend's mac to buy, or will it be bound to his account or something?

Thanks in advance!

Purely on the Dual boot with Windows front. I have a dual boot system now, with windows on one hdd, and osx on a second hdd. I'm not using SSDs but I do not see that this will make a difference. (I believe for SSD you will need to have a couple of different settings in your bios for TRIM support, you will also need to select a couple of extra items in Multibeast after installing OSX).

BUT, on the dual boot front. I think you should install win 7 first, as normal. It will be a fully working booting windows PC. During the instilation of windows, the windows installer will ask you, and let you reformat your ssd for windows.

Then, you can connect up your second SSD, and following the guides on here, you can install OSX to this second SSD. Lastly, after installing OSX on teh second drive, the Multibeast tool will help you install a custom bootloader on the OSX disk, making it bootable.

You now have a choice, you can set in BIOS whether your osx or win ssd is booted first, if windows is number 1, then it will just be a PC. if OSX is booted first, you can hit a key during start up, and the chimera bootloader will ask you to chose either OSX or windows... just like you want

I don't think you will have any trouble if the operating systems are on separate HDDs.

****** Edit.. Case and hardware look like it will work well together, but I would double check the GFX as I read that some Keplar cards had issues in Mountain lion.. probably resolved now with a patch in Multibeast/ , I would do some research on the cooler though and make sure the radiator will mount nicely and not foul the MOBO.. Id use google as this is a normal PC building challenge.

 

[Going Bald]

First of all, are these parts compatible with each other, and will they work out of the box? I want the install to be as easy as possible.

You should ave now problems as long as you measure-measure-measure and check specs to make sure the radiator fits the case properly without impacting the mainboard.

CPU: How to install HD4000? With MultiBeast?

Don't need to 'install" it. It is integral to the OS - both in 10.8.x and in Win7

CASE: Will it fit?

Again measure and check specs. you should be OK, but there is always the chance of that little plastic piece that interferes with the perfect fit and you wonder "can I break this off without ruining everything?"

SSD's: I've read that I have to install the Win7 drive first, to prevent Win7 from creating files in /Partitions folder or something. And also that I have to format the Win7 drive first. When formating the drive, do I need to make a partition? And if I have to format it before installing Win7, and Win7 must be first OS to be installed, how do I do it? From another computer? And do it need to do it to the OSX SSD too?

It doesn't matter one bit which OS you install first. It can be either. If installing Win7 first, just make sure AHCI is enabled in BIOS (most of the new boards with UEFI BIOS this is default, but check anyway)
things to remember about Win7 when installing:
have only the Win7-to-be HDD/SSD connected when installing.
when installing on a UEFI BIOS board on a fresh-from-the-store-drive, never before formatted, use the function key that allows you to choose a boot device during the BIOS post. You will see 2 Win7 Install DVD icons, one plain and one with UEFI or EFI on it. Choose the plain one to boot with. If you choose the EFI one, Win7 installs GPT/EFI and Chimera/Chameleon can't "see" it, so no icon to choose it to boot at the Chimera timeout screen. You have to use the BIOS function key to boot, or make Win7 first OS to boot.
If you allow Win7 installer free rein when booting the DVD, it will install EFI automatically on a UEFI board unless you use the function key during BIOS post to prevent it.
Another thing to remember about Win7 and fresh-from-store HDD/SSD. Win7 installer will create a System Reserved partition. This partition is similar to the EFI partition OS X installs at the front of the drive, except that with Win7, this is where the boot files are. This icon is the one you choose when you want to boot Win7, not the Windows NTFS icon.
OTOH, if you preformat the HDD/SSD, then it will not create the partition at all.

GPU: 750w is plenty right?

650 would be more than enough

Mountain Lion: Can I use a friend's mac to buy, or will it be bound to his account or something?

Use your friend's Mac to log into your account. Purchase and download the Install OS X Mountain Lion.app. Create UniBeast USB installer. Right click on the install app and select archive. Copy the .zip file to a DVD or external drive to take home with you. Drag the app to the trash. secure empty trash.
This will have no effect on your friend's Mac or your friend's account or your friend's ability to download the app for him/herself at a later date.

 

[Dahsoup]

Thanks so much for the replies! Cleared some things up. Looks like my case will do fine with the cooler, and now I know how to get ML.

Another thing to remember about Win7 and fresh-from-store HDD/SSD. Win7 installer will create a System Reserved partition. This partition is similar to the EFI partition OS X installs at the front of the drive, except that with Win7, this is where the boot files are. This icon is the one you choose when you want to boot Win7, not the Windows NTFS icon.
OTOH, if you preformat the HDD/SSD, then it will not create the partition at all.

I'm a little confused; Do i format it or not? Do i want the System Reserved Partition? Do I need it to boot from Win7?
Btw I read somewhere that you can only install 4GB ram when installing OSX, and rest later, will that be a problem with 2x8 GB Ram?

Again thanks a lot for your time.

 

[Dahsoup]

The qoute failed But you prolly get it.

 

[Going Bald]

I'm a little confused; Do i format it or not? Do i want the System Reserved Partition? Do I need it to boot from Win7?
Btw I read somewhere that you can only install 4GB ram when installing OSX, and rest later, will that be a problem with 2x8 GB Ram?

Again thanks a lot for your time.

Personally, i would preformat the SSD before installing Win7 - you don't really need the System reserved partition unless you want to revover the install over the internet from MS. I went out and bought http://www.paragon-software.com/home/hdm-personal/ when I wanted to move from a HDD to a SSD and wanted to make sure the sectors were aligned properly and to optimize the SSD. Did a lot of review reading and googling before I selected it. Money well spent IMHO. I like it better than gParted, even if it wasn't free .

as far as the RAM thing goes, that is outdated - fill the slots up with as much as the board will take or you can afford and install.

 

[Dahsoup]

Will format the Win7 SSD then. No need to format the OSX boot drive right?
Good to hear to RAM thing is outdated, I will just get 2x8 then.
Thank so much for the help!

 

[Going Bald]

Will format the Win7 SSD then. No need to format the OSX boot drive right?
Good to hear to RAM thing is outdated, I will just get 2x8 then.
Thank so much for the help!

You still need to format the OS X drive with GUID partition tables and Mac OS Extended (Journaled) before you can install. Do it with the disk utilities at the top of the first OS X screen where the Install button is on the lower right

 

[Dahsoup]

You still need to format the OS X drive with GUID partition tables and Mac OS Extended (Journaled) before you can install. Do it with the disk utilities at the top of the first OS X screen where the Install button is on the lower right

Perfect! Thanks for the replies.

 

[StudioK]

Personally, i would preformat the SSD before installing Win7 - you don't really need the System reserved partition unless you want to revover the install over the internet from MS.

GoingBald,

I did not know that you could install without System Reserved by preformatting. Do you mean formatting the volume as NTFS before install? If so, would GParted do the job?

[/QUOTE]I went out and bought http://www.paragon-software.com/home/hdm-personal/ when I wanted to move from a HDD to a SSD and wanted to make sure the sectors were aligned properly and to optimize the SSD. Did a lot of review reading and googling before I selected it. Money well spent IMHO. I like it better than gParted, even if it wasn't free[/QUOTE]

How does Paragon 'optimize' an SSD?